Edox Chronodakar Chronograph Limited Edition

Being an official sponsor of the famous international Dakar rally, the Swiss watchmaking brand Edox uses the opportunity to introduce limited edition watches that bear the event’s logo. Last year, they offered 500 pieces of the sporty Edox Dakar Limited Edition Quartz three-hander and now they prepare to start selling their new Edox Chronodakar Chronograph (ref. 10305 37N1 NRO) that, too, is offered as a strictly limited edition model.

Also powered by a quartz movement, the new watch is limited to just 200 pieces.

Although some could blame the world economic crisis for the brand making so few of these timekeepers, the real reason behind the move may well be the gadget’s hefty price tag: so far, the Swiss brand plans to offer the watch at CHF 1950 or €1790 apiece

The price actually makes the ref. 10305 37N1 NRO even more expensive than a similarly specced TAG Heuer Formula 1 Grand Date Gulf Edition that, too, is powered by a Ronda-based caliber (while the latter brand doesn’t enjoy a particularly good reputation among enthusiasts -this mostly refers to their lower-priced models-, its brand value is clearly higher than that of Edox so they actually can afford adding a couple hundred dollars to their price tags.)

The movement in question is the same Edox 103 mechanism that powered the last year’s Edox WRC X-Treme Pilot III chrono. Based on the Ronda 5021.D ebauche, the movement brings you the classic bi-compax layout with a 30-minute chronograph functionality, a subsidiary second display at 9 hours and a date indicator at 6 o’clock.

Since the movement is turned 180 degrees around its axis, the crown and the chronograph push-pieces are now placed on the left side of the body. There is a red “Start” button at 8 hours and a “Stop” pusher at 10 o’clock. And if you forget which one is which, there are handy, easily readable inscriptions on each of them.

While the X-Treme Pilot III featured titanium case, the Chronodakar comes with a stainless steel body with black PVD coating. The black body of the case looks especially nice thanks to red and white elements on the bezel and the dial that provide the watch with an additional sense of depth.

At 45 millimeters in diameter, the watch doesn’t look terribly large. There is just an aura of solidness around this thing similar to that that accompanies a good old .45 hand gun.